Radiation oncologist named as UMMC Cancer Institute director

JACKSON, Miss. – University of Mississippi Medical Center leaders on Monday named Dr. Srinivasan Vijayakumar director of the UMMC Cancer Institute, a role he’s held on an interim basis since August.

“Dr. Vijay – as most of us know him – has been a mainstay of our cancer programs for the last six years,” said Dr. James E. Keeton, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

“As professor and chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology and deputy director of the Cancer Institute, he has been a thoughtful and reliable leader who has been instrumental in the growth and development of our cancer programs in each of the three mission areas.”

Vijayakumar earned his medical degree and completed his initial specialty training in India before coming to the United States to complete his residency in radiation oncology at the University of Chicago.

Before joining UMMC in 2007, he was a faculty member at the Cleveland Clinic, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois and the University of California Davis. He has authored numerous articles, book chapters and a widely read book on prostate cancer, now in its third edition.

While the incidence of cancer in Mississippi is similar to that in other states, the Magnolia state has one of the highest death rates in the nation.

“That makes the work of the UMMC Cancer Institute – in prevention, treatment, discovery and outreach – all the more urgent,” Keeton said. “We have been assembling a strong, effective team in each of these areas, and I am confident that Dr. Vijayakumar will sustain our momentum going forward.”